


Marinette's Abs - Chloé (again)

by OldAnimeFan



Series: Marinette's Abs [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Marinette's abs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 00:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8556346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldAnimeFan/pseuds/OldAnimeFan
Summary: Chloé wants Adrien to teach her karate.





	

I had been learning karate from Adrien for the last two months when Chloé arrived.

After that first month, we got into a rhythm. First, I would practice a few times punching and kicking the heavy bag, then we would start sparring, initially practicing my individual punches, kicks and blocks one at a time with Adrien, with him critiquing my technique. Then, we would just start sparring freestyle. This was when it became interesting. I had to use all the punching and kicking techniques I had learned, in sequence. It wasn't just a matter of throwing a bunch of different punches, it was more of selecting the appropriate one to use at any one time, based on where I was balanced and on where he was balanced. And I had to make that decision on what punch to use instantaneously, as any delay and he would be attacking again before I could even start my own attack.

Yes, he was so much better than I was that he often connected with me when I couldn't block a punch in time. But he always pulled his punches, mostly, so yes, they hurt, but not that much. But I certainly knew that I had been hit, and that if it were a real fight, I would have been hurt that much more. Of course, as I progressed (I progressed rapidly, but more on that later), he didn't pull his punches that much anymore. And more than one time, I was knocked flat on my back when I didn't block in time. I'll give you one example of a scenario that occurred much too often.

Adrien and I were sparring, full out, at least for me. I punched at him, and he blocked it. I then tried another punch to Adrien. Adrien. Adrien! Adrien and I were sparring. Alone! Together! "Eeeee... Ooof!"

I collapsed to the mat. He had performed a sidekick directly to me, right at my upper abs. I should have swung my fist down and deflected the kick away. And depending on his response, I could have returned with either a kick of my own if his leg was still out of position, or thrown a punch if his leg was further around and his body was exposed. But of course, that was if he hadn't connected. But he had, with what was probably a full-force kick, since we were both not pulling our punches this session.

"Marinette! I'm sorry! What happened?"

After a little time, I could breathe again, and was able to say, "I was...distracted."

Usually, I would be concentrating tightly on the fight, my techniques and the possible counters. But once in a while, about once a lesson, I would realize that I was not fighting just another person, but Adrien. My Adrien! And I would lose all that concentration. And if that happened during a sparring session, well, let’s just say that the above example was a milder version of some of the effects of my inattention.

Somewhere in the middle of that second month of training, Adrien and I were sparring. "Wow Marinette," he said. "I've never seen anyone learn karate so fast!"

I said I progressed rapidly in karate. There was a reason for that.

Ladybug.

I had been learning karate for just over a month. But of course, Hawk Moth didn't know that, and probably wouldn't have cared even if he did. So, Cat Noir and I had taken down several of his Akumatized villains in that time. For a few of them, I found that I could use my karate moves to take them down easier and faster. And, of course, I could block their attacks with the karate blocks Adrien had taught me.

Of course, everything that Marinette had learned during her lessons, Ladybug could use, but with much greater strength, agility and speed. And, as I had found out with my Ladybug-enhanced abs, when Ladybug practiced something, Marinette got better at it too, well, miraculously. And when I discovered that, I made a point of going out as Ladybug as much as possible, often solo, just so I could practice the Marinette moves, to improve them, which also improved the Ladybug moves. 

I'll give you an example. (You know, I'll probably be giving you a lot of examples in the future, so bear with me.)

Cat Noir and I were fighting an Akumatized villain called Boxer. He was a prizefighter who had the power to clone himself. So there were two of them for us to fight.

"Cat Noir, you take the one on the right and I'll take the other one!" I said.

"You mean the one on my right or on your right?"

That was just like Cat, never serious. At least, I hoped he wasn't being serious, since we were both facing the same direction. "The one on my... The one on your..." Finally, I just said, "That one!" and pointed to the one I meant.

"Right!" he said. "I'll take him down and I'll be right back to help you with that other one. You just try to stall him until I get back," and he ran at the one I had pointed out.

I was a little piqued at Cat for not trusting me to handle my opponent, but only for an instant. As I had been practicing in my sparring practice with Adrien, I let Boxer (the original one, not the clone, at least I think so), lead the fight, while I tried to figure out his strengths and weaknesses. It wasn't until he had thrown several punches that I realized I wasn't thinking about the attacks themselves. My mind was automatically picking the appropriate block or counter-punch based on the style of punch he threw, then commanding my muscles to perform that counter, with Marinette's knowledge and Ladybug's strength and agility. And it was so automatic that in the background I was analyzing his attack pattern as I responded. After 15 or 20 punches, I realized what that pattern was, enough so that I could see what his next punch was going to be. And I was ready for it, stepping to one side and throwing my own punch into his body. And after several more of those, he was down, unconscious.

I turned to see Cat Noir still fighting the Boxer Clone. "I got mine. Do you need any help with yours?" I said. 

"No, he's no problem at all. I'll have him defeated in just a minute..." and the Boxer Clone threw a punch directly at Cat Noir's face. He ducked just in time. "...or maybe two," Cat continued.

"Are you really sure you don't need my help?"

But before he could reply, the Clone just suddenly disappeared in a poof of light. So, it appeared that when the Boxer was defeated, his Clone disappeared too.

So, as I said, Marinette's karate lessons improved Ladybug's fighting abilities. And the next Marinette karate lesson, the next day, even Adrien mentioned I was so much better than even the previous lesson.

All due to Ladybug.

Finally, I had mentioned that Mr. D'Argencourt was going to grade both Adrien and me on the karate lessons. Well, a couple weeks after Boxer, at the next midterm exam week, he came into the gym. He made us do the mandated French tests, a certain minimum number of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and a few other similarly required agility and strength tests. Then for me, he asked me to walk along the balance beam six feet off the ground, to see if I had improved my coordination. Of course with Ladybug's agility, that Marinette had inherited, I had no problem walking the full length of the beam without falling or jumping off.

Lastly, he said he wanted to see how much progress I had made in my karate training.

Adrien looked at me and said, "Sparring?"

"Full contact?" I said back, and we both nodded in agreement.

After 25 minutes, Mr. D'Argencourt told us to stop. Neither of us had landed a blow on the other, each of us having blocked everything thrown.

We both got 20 points, a très Bien grade, the highest you could get.

A week later, Chloé arrived.

The next lesson after the midterm test, Mr. D'Argencourt came into the room just as we were starting. Following him were Chloé, followed closely by Sabrina, and then Alya.

"Mr. Adrien, you have some new students. They will be learning karate with you. With the progress Miss Marinette has been making, I'm sure you can handle more students," and he left.

Chloé?

Chloé!

It had to be Chloé!

But Alya?

"Welcome to..." Adrian started to say, as Chloé walked up to him, and grabbed his arm.

Well, of course Chloé. Anywhere that Adrien was, that's where Chloé would just have be. I presume she had heard about Adrien teaching karate. And she had probably also heard that I was his only student. And all this must have happened in just the last week or she would have been here sooner.

"Well first, if I'm going to teach you karate, I have to know what experience you already have. Chloé?"

"Only a little," Chloé said, though I thought most likely she was lying. I doubt she had ever studied any fighting techniques at all.

Sabrina nodded her head and said, "Me too."

"And you, Alya?"

"Well, I've had a little more than a little," Alya said.

I just noticed something. Chloé and Sabrina were in their regular gym clothes, though I noticed Chloé was looking at my bare-abs outfit intently. But Alya was wearing a Gi, notably with a brown belt. And while it looked clean, with my seamstress' eyes, I could see a few places where it was worn, right at the appropriate places that indicated real combat usage. And knowing Alya, I doubt she had bought a used one.

"Chloé, Sabrina, I'll get to you two later," Adrien said. "Alya, I want to see your experience level. Spar with me."

Adrien and Alya sparred with each other for a few minutes. Alya didn't use karate, at least not any of the techniques Adrien had taught me so far. There was a lot of kicking and acrobatics in her style, and only a few punches. When Adrien punched, she countered and blocked with her legs and feet, much more than with her hands. This wasn't at all the way I had been taught. It was much more, as I said, acrobatic. It was almost as if she were dancing.

I could see that Alya had earned her brown belt. I could see that she definitely was a good match for Adrien, especially since he was having a hard time trying to defend against her style. But after a few minutes, he finally figured out her timing, and after that, they were evenly matched. And when he eventually called a halt to the fight, he was back in command, the difference between their belt colors showing through.

Neither of them had landed an attack on the other. But observing the match closely, as I was, I could see that they were both pulling their punches, masterfully. When I sparred with Adrien, I was always attacking full force, and Adrien was blocking my attacks. But with Alya and Adrien, those attacks that weren't blocked, and there were many of them, would have landed if they hadn't been intentionally stopping their attacks at the last instant.

I had a lot to learn!

"Alya," Adrien said. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I picked it up when I lived in Martinique."

"Ah," said Adrien, "that's why.

"All right Chloé, it's your turn."

It was a disaster. Chloé actually fell down a couple times while trying to emulate Alya's kicks.

"All right," Adrien said after no more than a minute or two. "Sabrina?"

Sabrina was better than Chloé, but only slightly better. So again, Adrien stopped her after a minute.

"All right," said Adrien. "Alya, you spar with Marinette while I teach Chloé and Sabrina the basics."

And I could see Chloé's face light up, confirming what I suspected, that this had been her goal all along, to be with Adrien.

"Oh, and Alya," Adrien continued, "keep your kicks away from her head, at least for now. Why don't you target her abs, like at the beach?"

Chloé snorted. It was probably a stifled laugh. But even if it wasn't, I could see that she was happy about that command.

Alya and I sparred. It was as if I hadn't had a minute of karate training. She soundly defeated me, by, as Adrien had suggested, aiming at my abs. Even though she was using punches and not her very strong kicks, those punches were decidedly stronger than when she was punching my abs before in private. So even then, she had been pulling her punches. But of course, now she wasn't. So I frequently ended up on the mat holding my abs. But I got back up as soon as I could, excruciating pain or not.

And I never was able to land a single punch or kick of my own, even though I was trying with all the skill I had learned from Adrien (and perfected as Ladybug).

Ladybug! That was it!

When Alya had been Lady Wifi, she had been able to take down Cat Noir. So, that's where she got her combat skills she used that day. They were just the Akuma-enhanced version of the fighting skills she already had.

Even though I was concentrating on Alya, I noticed that Chloé was watching me. It took me a while, but I finally figured out that she was interested in my outfit, or more probably, in what it revealed, which was all of those abs that Alya was so masterfully pounding on. What clinched that supposition was when Chloé leaned over and whispered to Sabrina, and whenever she wasn't training with Adrien, Sabrina would sneak a cell phone picture of my outfit.

And that was it for the lesson, with Chloé and Sabrina trying to perform the simple punches that Adrien had taught me the first day, and Alya beating me to a pulp (well, you know what I mean).

The next lesson was three days later, with Adrien again trying to teach Chloé and Sabrina the most basic of moves, with Chloé always trying to get closer to Adrien, and Alya and I sparring again.

"Girl," said Alya. "You know Adrien's karate pretty well. Why don't you let me teach you a whole new set of moves, the ones I know?"

It was a disaster, almost as bad as Chloé's had been. I knew I would have problems trying to duplicate Alya's moves. I knew my general clumsiness would see to that. But I didn't expect it to be as bad as it was.

Yes, I could dance, but only the more sedate dance moves. But when the music tempo increased, any semblance of a dance I had would rapidly turn into a lot of stumbling and tripping. And even my Ladybug athletic ability didn't help me now. So even though my karate could keep up with Adrien and even Alya to some extent, Alya had to go back to basics to teach me her new, for me, style of fighting. But by the end of that lesson, I had at least learned all the basic attacks, even though I couldn't successfully execute any of them. And it wasn't only the attacks she taught me. It seems that in her fighting style, the moves she was teaching me were for both attack and defense. It was not like karate, where a specific move was either an attack or a defensive move. Most of Alya's moves you could also use to block another's attacks.

Fortunately for me, I had the weekend off with little homework to do. So as I had learned, I transformed into Ladybug late at night and went out to the Paris rooftops to practice solo the moves that Alya had shown me. And of course, Ladybug could do all the moves perfectly, her agility and general athleticism showing through, as much as Marinette's clumsiness showed through during that last lesson with Alya.

And of course, at the next lesson, Ladybug's style had transferred back to Marinette, at least enough that I could now perform the basic moves that Alya had taught me. So, I was able to keep up with her moves, attacking and blocking, as she had taught me. But of course, Alya then went on to the more complex moves, so I still frequently landed on the mat holding my abs.

But I was distracted during that lesson.

I had a reason to be distracted.

At the beginning of that lesson, Sabrina came in wearing a Gi, like Adrien's, instead of her school gym clothes. But Chloé was the one that surprised me.

Chloé had been watching me during the last two lessons. I had thought it was because she was either jealous of my abs-baring outfit, or of my skill level. (I knew she had told Sabrina to take pictures of me fighting.) It turned out to be the former.

Chloé entered the room with an exact duplicate of my outfit. Mostly.

Completely missing the point, Adrien said, "Chloé, you should have a white belt, like Marinette's."

"Well," she said, "I like it this way. It's more fashionable with a black belt, like yours."

"But," I said, "that's my design. You can't use it without my permission."

"Well, I can do whatever I like," Chloé said, in her usual haughty attitude. "I had my personal seamstresses working all weekend on it from the pictures I took. And you can't stop me from wearing it. My father's the mayor after all, and I can wear anything I like. So you can just take it up with him."

I had planned for something like this, though I didn't know it would be with Chloé. "Chloe, I designed the outfit myself," though, I noticed, her seamstresses had duplicated the outfit only visually. It looked the same only when she stood still. When she moved, it wrinkled and bunched up, revealing the lack of tailoring, tailoring that had gone into my design but not hers.

"Well, I don't see what that has to do with..." she started.

I cut her off. "And after I designed it, I registered the design rights and copyrights to that design with the French Copyright Office and with the European Union Copyright Authority. That means, I have complete rights to that original design, and anyone who makes a copy of it without my written permission is breaking both French and EU laws. So if you want to use my design without my explicit permission, you'll have to take that up with the French and EU courts. And so far, no one has won a case against someone else's registered clothes design." I guessed at that last part. But since I had researched the laws that night after I had designed and made the outfit, I guessed that it was more-or-less accurate, if not completely accurate.

"Well we'll see about that! I'll get my father to change the law for me!"

I doubted that.

In any case, I tried to ignore Chloé the rest of that lesson and tried to concentrate on Alya's new training, as Adrien tried to teach Chloé the karate basics, still. But I was distracted. I was distracted, as every time I looked at them training, Chloé was snuggled up close to Adrien in her outfit, no my outfit, with its abs-baring design, leaving not too much to the imagination.

The next lesson, I was overjoyed. Chloé showed up with the same Gi that Adrien, Sabrina and Alya wore. And it had that simple white belt around her middle, indicating her beginning status.

I was positive that Chloé had talked with her father about my design, probably trying to cajole him into letting her wear it. I surmised that he had looked up my design copyright online and found it was properly registered, as I had said. I could hear him trying to explain to his daughter that EU and French Government law trumped even a mayor's powers, that there was nothing he could do.

And every time I glanced in her direction, Chloé was glaring at me

I was overjoyed.

Halfway through that session, Adrien stopped. "Chloé, I'm going to have to train with Alya from now on. She needs a more experienced trainer than Marinette. Marinette can train you and Sabrina from what I've taught her, at least until you get the basics of karate down."

"That's not fair," Chloé said. "I want to train with you!"

"No, that's how it's got to be. Marinette will train you. She'll be in charge."

"But... But... But she'll hurt me!"

"Chloé," I said, "I'll just show you the basic karate moves. I wouldn't hurt you.

"After all, who do you think I am? I'm not like Chloé, you know."

"Of course, you're not!" she said. "No one's as bad as Chloé."

"All right then," I said. "Let’s get to training... Wait a minute! What did you just say?"

"That was a joke. Haven't you ever heard a joke before?"

"Yes," I thought, "but never from her."

The rest of that lesson, Adrien worked with Alya and I worked with Chloé on the basics, how to punch and kick, and how to defend from them. She wasn't that good, mainly because she wasn't even trying. That reinforced my original hypothesis. She wasn't here to learn karate, she was here to be with Adrien.

After only a few minutes, Chloé stopped, saying she was tired, and Sabrina took her place on the heavy bag. At least Sabrina seemed to be taking this seriously, diligently following my instructions on how to attack and defend. And I could see she could become very good at this, if she could only spend the time and effort practicing, the time and effort that Chloé didn't seem to want to put into it.

At the end of the lesson, Adrien walked over to Chloé. "You know Chloé, Mr. D'Argencourt will be grading you on how well you're learning karate. At this rate, you may fail physical education for the year altogether unless you train harder."

"This is all too hard! I'll go back to the regular class then!" and Chloé walked out of the class.

Turning at the door, Chloé said, "Sabrina, are you coming?"

Sabrina responded, "Coming!"

But Sabrina turned to Adrien on her way out. "Adrien, is it all right if I come back next lesson?"

Adrien nodded.

And that was the last we saw of Chloé in the karate lessons.

Almost.


End file.
